Reviews

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

alt_air's review

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

katezzz's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Murder and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

clemslibrary's review against another edition

3.75

this was a fun time but i don’t feel like the characters got enough development and that the romance developed super quickly, it all felt quite surface level

but i did love the genderfluid mc and the queer normative world, i just wish they were explored more as most things were just told to us with little backstory 

erikaq's review against another edition

3.0

Mixed feelings on this one. As a concept I loved what this book could be and I think some parts of it are done well, but most parts are just subpar.

The characters are interesting to an extent but the romance is insta-love with very little development to the full devotion that they feel for each other and every single obstacle is resolved quickly and the characters get what they want without much struggle. Similarly the worldbuilding starts off well but then doesn't go anywhere to expand on the things we know from the very beginning.

Mostly, it feels disjointed to me and it's a book that had potential especially because of the representation it offers with a mix-race couple (but the book never even touches on that really), with the lgbtq rep that is mostly flimsy because at the end of the day the couple could have been het and I doubt it would have changed anything at all.

hazmur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

felt like five different stories smashed together. all enjoyable, liked the characters and the journey they went on. excited 
the sequel

shinel427's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

cobaltbookshelf's review

3.0

“

ambrose_7's review

4.0

Found this on a Likewise list and wow am I glad I did. It’s very rare to come across a fantasy book with such real characters. I love the justifications in the minds of the “bad” characters and the way that the harshness of life is portrayed. Another really cool thing was the gender fluidity stuff. I like the way it was shown. Also stick around to the end heck of a plot twist. I found out after reading that this was the authors first book and I sure hope it isn’t the last.

yaboylevi's review

1.0

Was hoping for more queer rep and less historical stuff about some genderqueer kid (feels more like crossdressing than genderqueerness tbh) in Japan who knows how many years ago

rainbowrachel's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75